Band of Angels Page #7

for the buzzards...

...we'd truss the captives to poles...

...and march them through the jungle

to the coast.

The ones that couldn't stand the march...

...Gezo and his cutthroats

would feed to the sharks behind the reef.

The rest were put in barricades

until I can haul them out to my ship.

And what went on in that prison,

a thousand locked up that way...

...they sounded like dogs,

moon howling and moaning.

You?

I can't believe it. Not you.

But that was nothing

to what went on in the ship.

I can still hear them. The puking

and the screaming and the praying.

Packed into slave shelves

with hardly any turning room.

Like herring in a barrel of salt.

I ran the British blockade

with a price on my head...

...and smuggled them

into the West Indies.

You know, slaving wasn't illegal

in those days.

It wasn't what you might say Christian

neither, was it?

But I didn't make this world.

I didn't even make myself.

And if the Creator didn't like it,

he should have done the world a favor...

...and sunk those hellish ships under the sea

along with the whole black coast.

Kindness. Michele, Rau-Ru...

...they all believed you were kind.

And I tried to be.

I tried to make up for it.

But you still know how to torture,

don't you?

Why did you have to tell me this?

Because you wondered

why I wouldn't marry you.

I would, Manty, if you could have

taken the truth about me.

You know, I had plans for us.

Leave all this behind.

Step out to the Indies,

where I still have some holdings.

But that wouldn't work now.

That drop of blood you got in you

would never stop despising me.

You'd always hate me, like Rau-Ru.

You said he wanted to kill me.

Nope. There's no place for you here.

Or anywhere with me.

That's gold. Not a lot because

I put nigh all I had into Confederate.

This paper will show you

that you're a freed woman.

Keep you from getting picked up

by the Yankees.

- Hamish...

- Wherever you go...

...I don't want to know

where it is, you understand?

I don't ever want to know where you are.

You know,

I always liked that hat on you.

Monsieur Hamish, sending her away

was not from your heart.

- Why did you do it?

- I had to give her a chance.

Maybe she'll find it in the white world.

Soldiers, they're coming. Wearing blue.

Pretty soldiers marching.

Time for darkies to sing and dance.

Burst out the barrel.

- Lay on the ground and roll for sweetness.

- Hallelujah.

Stretch the mouth and pour rum...

...till it comes out of your ears

like a bung bust.

- Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

- Lay on the ground and roll for freedom.

Freedom? If they only knew.

Butler's confiscating slaves

not liberating them.

He's relocating them

on carpetbagging plantations...

...where the Yankees will use their whip

and pay no wages.

If we could live another 100 years,

we'd probably see white justice for blacks.

We'd know by then

that men don't make history...

...but are shaped by history,

and history takes its time.

Get my slaves out of here

before Butler's buzzards come.

Take all the provisions in the storehouse.

You'll find horses and wagons in the barn.

If you see Rau-Ru,

tell him this place is his.

I put it in the records years ago.

Make way for General Butler.

Make way for the general, folks.

What a pretty little confederate.

You Yankee pig.

General Order Number 28.

It is hereby ordered

that if any female of New Orleans...

...by word, movement or gesture

would insult or show contempt...

...for any officer or soldier

of the United States...

"She shall be regarded and treated...

...as a woman of the town

plying her avocation.

By command of Major General Butler."

Well...

Hey, lookie.

She's doing very well with her lessons.

I'll be back next Thursday.

Ma's home cooking was never like that.

Real Southern-fried chicken.

Watch this.

So you're afraid a Yankee

might crash against you, huh?

Well, that's an insult.

You bear my witness.

- Right, corporal.

- We seen it.

You could learn some decent manners.

Well, you're no better than a hooker.

You're no better than those slat-busters

following General Hooker's army.

- Why...?

- Corporal, attention.

Sir, I was acting under

General Order 28.

It doesn't authorize you

to commit mayhem on ladies.

She insulted me

and I was trying to arrest her.

You'll probably get a chance

to explain that under court-martial.

You saw her show contempt for me

like it says on the order, didn't you?

That's right, sir.

She insulted Corporal Daggett.

Besides that, she slapped his mouth.

Corporal Daggett?

You're in my regiment aren't you?

Yes, sir.

You and these two privates

will report to me this evening.

Yes, sir.

Miss, you may be called upon

to make a statement.

Oh, no. Please, lieutenant.

I don't want to make any trouble,

just let him go.

It's no trouble, it'll just be routine.

I think I better escort you

wherever you're going.

- I was on my way home.

- Permit me.

- The others who burned their fields?

- Company C's got some of them, sir.

But there's no trace of that Hamish Bond.

His plantation is deserted.

They'll get him now that General Butler's

offered bounty money for him.

Well, get on with this job.

Monsieur Hamish.

Jimmee?

- So you joined that band of angels?

- Yes, monsieur.

But to me,

you are still the master of the land.

And I knew you'd be heading this way

for your old Belle Helene plantation.

- You were right, Jimmee.

- I put everything there that you need.

I stole it from the Yankees.

- You got Manty away safely?

- She's all right.

Thanks, Jimmee.

Seen anything since we grabbed

this burned-down half of Louisiana?

I heard some noises

going through over there.

I kept praying

that wasn't Hamish Bond.

Come on.

- The little bouquets were just as nice, Ethan.

- Everything's been nice.

These last few weeks have been

my happiest since I left home.

Does there happen to be

a very lonely girl back there?

You underestimate me, there were several.

But I can honestly say...

...that absence did not

make the heart grow fonder.

Fickle Yankee.

I'll see to it

that you don't break my heart.

Amantha, you're the heartbreaker,

Oh, yes, you are.

With you, I could so easily forget

that I'm in the Army.

That I'm even a Yankee.

Indeed, I almost forgot

what brought me here this afternoon.

Dreary bit of rules and regulations.

I'll have to ask you to sign this complaint

against those three soldiers.

- Oh, must I?

- There's nothing to it.

I've taken the liberty of answering

the questions for you.

"Amantha Starr. 23-A St. Louise Street.

Music teacher." Age...?

You once referred to me

as a gentleman...

...so naturally I followed my own

inclinations on that question.

Now, let's see. "Sex: Female.

Color:
White."

Yes, I believe that's all.

Anything wrong, Amantha?

No. No.

- Do I have to sign it?

- Well, if you don't...

...Corporal Daggett will stay

in the guardhouse for the rest of the war.

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